Building Bigger Better Unions​

We believe in Unions.We believe that every Australian has the right to join the Trade Union of their choice and participate in the collective activities of their Union without fear of reprisal. We believe in freedom of association. We also acknowledge the incredible contribution to the Australian community made by the Trade Union movement. Australia is a better, stronger and fairer nation because of our Trade Unions. The Australian Trade Union movement has been at the forefront of social change and improvement for generations. We all have better lives because of Unions.​Unions play a pivotal role in ensuring that the rights of all working people are upheld and that their safety at work is a priority. We support the right of entry into the workplace for Unions for the purposes to recruit, to investigate breaches of any industrial, workplace health and safety laws or matters pertaining to the general welfare of working people.

​ Protecting your right to join a Union.The AWP believes that any employer who discourages or attempts to inhibit a worker's right to join a union should face harsh penalties. Every worker should feel free to join a union without fear of reprisal or punishment. No employer has the right to discourage collectivism in any way. Additionally, no employer should inhibit the activities of the role of workplace delegates; we would support the inclusion of a “bill of delegates’ rights” into each Enterprise Agreement. The freedom to organise is paramount to ensuring workers’ rights.We support good governance.As organisations, Unions should always come under the full democratic and collective control of their members. To ensure proper governance standards are in place we would propose that all Trade Unions undergo financial and operational audits by the Fair Work Commission every four years to ensure ethical and healthy governance. If there is an unsatisfactory finding by the FWC, the offending Union could have its leadership compelled to face elections or even face deregulation. There is no place for corruption or poor governance in Unions. Unions are for workers, not union bosses.We support Democratic Unions.To support our view that Unions should be strongly democratic, we propose an elected Union Official would serve elected terms of no more that two years in duration with the ability to seek further, consecutive terms of elected office. We believe that union members should be individually written to, outlining when an election is occurring within their union and how they could nominate for an elected position should they want to.We want to end cronyism.One of the major failings of the relationship between some Unions and the Labor Party has been the “jobs-for-the-boys” mentality that exists. The AWP has no respect for cronyism. A Union leadership role should not be used as a stepping stone for a political career. To combat this, we propose that any Union Official holding an executive role within their Trade Union would be ineligible to sit in the Australian Federal Parliament or any State or Territorial Parliament for a period of no less than two years from the expiry or resignation of their term of office within their Union.Demarcation.Australia’s system of union demarcation is antiquated and in need of review. It stifles freedom of choice for Unionists. The AWP would propose a gradual process of removing the barriers of demarcation; our view would be to propose a gradual process of relaxing industrial demarcation that would allow any worker to join any Trade Union outside the existing areas of occupational or trade coverage. This would allow stronger organic Union growth, run by workers, for workers.

WORKING POOR - NO MORE!We seek real political change for all workers and their families through equality, progressive reform and social & economic justice.